Flash Flood — Columbia, Arkansas

2024-03-15 · near Magnolia, Columbia, Arkansas

Event narrative

Numerous roads were flooded and closed throughout Columbia County with widespread rainfall amounts in excess of 5 inches and at least 2 high water rescues for stranded motorists.

Wider weather episode

Strong and deep convection became widespread over the Ark-La-Tex and downstream portions of southern Arkansas on March 15th. This occurred along an outflow boundary on the southwestern flank of a decaying MCS, and a favorable environment encouraged increased training over several hours. The mesoscale environment was characterized by ML CAPE of 1000-2000 J/kg, PWATs of 1.5-1.8 inches, and deep layer shear of 30-50 knots. In addition, a highly favorable coupled overlap of 850 mb convergence and 250 mb divergence helped to maintain deep convection. Convection trained from southwest to northeast, resulting in numerous reports of flash flooding across much of the Ark-La-Tex region with rainfall totals exceeding five inches in some areas.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.2700, -93.2400)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1171047. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.